Reviewer Guidelines

Thank you for agreeing to review the paper and for your invaluable contribution in time and
expertise. Since its foundation in 1943 the readers of HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological
Studies have been academic theologians, scholars in the field of the humanities and social
sciences, professional pastors/ministers of religion and academically oriented readers
interested in religious matters. The journal covers theology in its broadest sense and
therefore publishes articles linked with a variety of other study fields and has a multi-
disciplinary, multi-church, inter-faith, and multi-religious focus and scope. Articles cover,
among others, aspects of religious studies, philosophy, ancient Semitic and classical
languages, sociology and ethics. HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies is committed
to the capacity building of young scholars. We rely on you as an independent reviewer to
ensure that HTS papers are understandable, valid, important, interesting and enjoyed.

We will appreciate it very much if you can submit your report by the due date. Please contact
the Title Operations Coordinator (TOC) immediately should you wish to extend the deadline:
submissions@hts.org.za

1. If you require video guidance on how to use the website to complete your review
please CLICK HERE. (3 minute video)
2. To download the following guidelines in PDF please CLICK HERE

Thank you in advance for your contribution to make HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological
Studies an essential worldwide read.
Select the appropriate link for further information:
~ Understanding the Review Steps
~ Ethical Code of Reviewers
~ Feedback to Reviewers
~ Troubleshooting

How to conduct your review:

How to approach the 7 Review Steps

Step 1
Please notify the editor immediately whether you are able to perform the review or not.
Click on the appropriate green envelope next to Response in Step 1 which opens a
notification e-mail to the Editor. Read, edit and approve the e-mail and click on Send to notify
the editor. (Please do not skip the e-mail.) This notification will give you permission to
download the manuscript and to submit your review.

Step 2
If you want to use a review template, click and save it with the manuscript and
supplementary files on your computer.
Review Templates:

Reviewer Form

Do you want to exit the website now?

You may wish to leave the website now to do the review and to submit the review report by
the due date. You can access this review page again by visiting www.hts.org.za directly or
you can link to the website from your invitation e-mail by clicking on the article title link. Log
in on the website with your password, select Reviewer and click on the underlined article title
to link to this review page. Proceed to Step 4-7

Step 3
If you accept to do the review, you will get access to download the manuscript and
supplementary files and save them to your computer. Click on the underlined article
file code (e.g 288-1138-2-RV.DOC) and/or supplementary file(s) code(s) (e.g. 288-1138-2-
SP.DOC) and save them to a file on your computer.

Step 4
Declaring any conflicts of interest is facilitated by typing your declaration in the provided field.
Click on Save to save your declaration to the system.

Step 5

If you simply want to type a short review report with no attachments you can
click on the green icon next to the word Review in step 4. Type your review report
in the appropriate field and press SAVE and then CLOSE. Proceed to step 7 to
complete your review.
You may also copy the report from a Word document: minimise the webpage
and open the Word file on your computer. Copy the text from the Word file and paste
the text in the appropriate field. To successfully save it to the system, click on SAVE
and then CLOSE to get back to this review page. Proceed to step 7 to complete your
review.

Step 6: Preferred method

If you have used the reviewer template or your own review report, you can
upload it as a saved file from your computer in step 6. To successfully upload the file,
you have to click on Browse to access the folder where it is saved on you computer.
Double click on the file icon or click on the icon and click Open to import it. Press
Upload next to the browser. The file name will now appear with a RV file code.
Please check that you have uploaded the correct file or version by clicking on the
underlined RV files. Delete if necessary and browse and upload again.
If you want to upload a review report AND the manuscript with tracked
changes: Simply click on the browser, double click on the manuscript icon where it
is saved on you computer and click on Upload.

Proceed to step 7 to complete your review.

Step 7
Please make a recommendation for the manuscript in step 7 after uploading the report in
step 5 or step 6. Click on Choose one, select you recommendation and click on Submit
Review to Editor to complete your review.
We want to pass on constructive comments to authors, even of rejected papers, so please
give your detailed comments and make your recommendations and any confidential
comments to the editor where appropriate.
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Ethical Code:

All manuscripts will undergo a double-blind review process. Please assist us to keep
the confidentiality intact of the peer review process and the propriety rights of those
who have submitted the manuscripts.
Reviewers must decline a request to review manuscripts if they are aware of a
conflict of interest or they should disclose the nature of the conflict of interest to the
editor.
Reviewers may decline the request to review the work of others if they believe the
process may be biased or if they have questions about the authenticity or integrity of
the reported research.

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Feedback to Reviewers:
We are committed to:

Provide you with the review reports of other reviewers

Give feedback on the outcome of a manuscript

Please ensure your personal details are updated regularly provide us with any
comments or suggestions to help us improve these instructions by sending us an
email: submissions@hts.org.za

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Troubleshooting:

Cannot login the second time

Please check your password. If the correct password is not working please contact the title
coordinator

Cannot download the manuscript or supplementary files

Slow dial up internet connection, Security settings (how to fix them), actual website problem.
Please contact the title coordinator.

Cannot paste or type my report in step 5

Please note that only text can be pasted in the fields. Please ensure that the text was copied
from the original, saved Word document.

The system does not want to accept my typed or pasted review report
This may happen if you did not SAVE your report and didnt CLOSE the page in Step 5.

Cannot browse or upload my review report or the manuscript in step 6

Large files (>2MB) may be difficult to upload. Refresh the web page (hard refresh = Ctrl +
F5) and try again.

Contact Details for immediate assistance: +27 (0)86 1000 381 [Business hours
08:00 16:30 weekdays] or email: submissions@hts.org.za

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